Nations: To Brand or not to Brand?
In Marketing Week this week, Mark Ritson, who is an Associate Professor of Marketing, writes about country branding. His take on it is summarized in the headline of his article “Countries are countries, not brands.”
Written in reaction to South Africa’s preparation for the FIFA World Cup, the article not only looks down upon the country for trying to build a stronger country brand with this opportunity, but other nations who have viewed themselves as a brand and the branding agencies that were hired by them to do it.
“Conceptualizing a country as if it were a brand is stupid,” Ritson puts it simply. He first explains that the concept of a brand does not fit countries, because “you don’t ever buy a country.”
He concludes his argument by saying that so many of these countries seeking a “stronger country brand” have bigger internal problems to deal with instead of worrying about image first…which will naturally change their image if they make improvements.
I am not sure if I entirely agree with Ritson that country branding is a “futile, shameful practice.” While I agree that countries do have a lot of important other issues to worry about, I think that fixing these problems should go hand in hand with creating a strong country brand.
Who you are as a nation is intrinsically tied to what you do. Leaders should know how to think about what is best for the country as a nation and as a brand simultaneously. They have to be politicians, but also marketing specialists, which is often one and the same.
So what do you think? Is nation branding total baloney or it important?
Tags: mark ritson, marketing week, nation branding, south africa, world cup